Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven: Summary and Analysis

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven : Edgar Allan Poe’s famous work, The Raven, had its success because of the poem’s tragic theme and Poe’s effective use of several poetic devices.

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven

The Raven Poem BY Edger Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

Only this and nothing more.”

 

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Nameless here for evermore.

 

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

This it is and nothing more.”

 

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

Darkness there and nothing more.

 

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

Merely this and nothing more.

 

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

 

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—

Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

 

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

 

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as “Nevermore.”

 

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

 

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”

 

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

 

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

She shall press, ah, nevermore!

 

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

 

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

 

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

 

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

 

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—nevermore!

 

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven: Summary and Analysis

 Edgar Allan Poe’s famous work, The Raven, had its success because of the poem’s tragic theme and Poe’s effective use of several poetic devices. Review the summary and analysis of Poe’s work, identify the poetic devices he used, and see how the supernatural elements added appeal to his work. 

Instant Popularity

‘The Raven’ was written in 1845 by Edgar Allan Poe and has been referenced and parodied countless times over the 150 years since. Even during Poe’s time, people were reciting the poem, almost like we would sing along to some popular rock artist today. We might just sing the lyrics at first, but eventually, we’d start creating our own, playing off the original.

So how popular is Poe? Like I said, countless allusions to and parodies of Poe’s ‘The Raven’ exist today. His raven and lyrics have made it into books, movies, television shows, magazines, cartoons, and even professional wrestling. Yes, professional wrestling. Have you heard of Scott Levy, also known as The Raven? Or did you know that Poe was from Baltimore? Guess where they got the name for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. Poe’s raven shows up in multiple Stephen King novels. The Joker in 1989’s Batman quotes the narrator of the poem. The Gilmore Girls, Calvin & Hobbs, and Mad Magazine pay homage to the Dark Romantic poet. Even The Simpsons, on their first-ever ‘Treehouse of Horror’ episode, provides us with their version of ‘The Raven,’ complete with a lovesick Homer and Bart-headed raven.

The Poem

Even if you are familiar with the haunting blackbird and his taunting ‘Nevermore,’ you may not know the poem itself. The poem begins after midnight on a cold December evening. A man, the narrator, sits alone by the fire dozing off as he reads a book, hoping to forget about Lenore, his lost love.

While he sits, he hears a knocking at the door. He gets up to answer, apologizing in the process, only to open the door and find absolutely nothing there. With it being after midnight, he’s a little creeped out, so he tries to tell himself that it’s just the wind hitting the window. When he goes to the window to remedy the problem, however, what should swoop in, but the Raven.

Unlike a normal bird that would probably fly around the room scared, the Raven just perches itself on a statue of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, above the door. Rather unnaturally, the narrator begins to talk to it, asking for its name. And while you wouldn’t expect a raven to be able to answer, he does respond with, ‘Nevermore.’

Of course, this is alarming for a couple of reasons. One, the Raven is actually talking. Two, the only thing he ever says has such a foreboding connotation that the narrator can’t help but be unnerved. In fact, he is so rattled that he just keeps asking questions to which the Raven continues to respond with the same answer. And sadly, that is the last answer the narrator wants to hear. By the end of the poem, the narrator has lost his mind, giving in to the sorrow of losing his lost love Lenore and knowing that she will return ‘nevermore.’

Style: Poe’s Recipe for Success

In 1846, Edgar Allan Poe wrote an essay called ‘The Philosophy of Composition‘ where he explains his writing method and how intentional each part of the writing process must be, something he called the unity of effect. Additionally, Poe believed, that ‘the most poetical topic in the world’ was ‘the death…of a beautiful woman,’ which is no doubt why he chose to develop our narrator’s madness as he is faced with the reality that his long lost love Lenore is gone forever. According to an essay, Poe wrote ‘The Raven’ in hopes of appealing to both critics and commoners, and the result is a spooky poem chock-full of symbolism and literary effects.

Symbolism: The Raven

A symbol is something that represents something else. In literature, a symbol can be subtle or obvious. In ‘The Raven’ the symbol is obvious. Poe himself meant the Raven to symbolize ‘mournful, never-ending remembrance.’ Our narrator’s sorrow for his lost, perfect maiden Lenore is the driving force behind his conversation with the Raven. In turn, the Raven, even through his limited vocabulary, forces the narrator to face the reality that Lenore will return ‘nevermore,’ a fact that the narrator does not want to acknowledge. As a result, by the poem’s conclusion, the Raven has the eyes ‘of a demon’s’ and its shadow hangs over the narrator’s soul. For the poem’s speaker, the Raven has moved beyond mournful, never-ending remembrance to an embodiment of evil.

Poetic Devices

Poetic devices are the techniques a poet uses to write a poem. The meter of a poem is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. The rhythm is then the measured flow of words that is established through the stressed and unstressed syllables. Now that probably sounds like the same definition for both words, right? Well, it’s a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. To find the meter, we have to look at each syllable in the foot to determine if it is stressed or unstressed. The effect of the meter is the rhythm. Let’s look at the first line of the poem.

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